CLIMATE OF INDIA

The climate of India is greatly influenced by three factors:

a) Tropic of Cancer dividing the country into two parts- North Temperate zone
and South Tropical zone.
b) Vast Himalayan range separating India from the rest of Asia.
c) Monsoon winds which unifies climate of India with alterations of seasons
and reversal of winds.
Therefore, the climate of India can be described as Tropical Monsoon
Climate.
 Variations and Contrasts in Climate-
Temperature-
The places to the north of Tropic of Cancer experience continental type of
climate, i.e, very hot in summer and very cold in winter.
The places south of Tropic of Cancer, being near to the equator, remain hot
and do not experience winter at all.
The places situated on the vast east- West coastline of India experience
equable climate, neither too hot nor too cold throughout the year due to
the moderating influence of the sea, eg, Chennai, Mumbai, Goa. Whereas
the places in the interior north, have extreme climate.
Rainfall-
The annual rainfall varies from about 1187 cm at Mawsynram, at
Meghalaya, the highest in the world, to less than 25 cms in Thar desert in
Rajasthan. The erratic nature of monsoon is due to unprecedented rainfall.
The two coasts of the Indian Peninsula are just in the reverse position with
regard to monsoon winds. The western coast gets its heaviest rainfall during
June by south West monsoon, while eastern coast remains comparatively dry
during summer, It gets maximum rainfall during winter.
Factors affecting the temperature-
I) Location- Latitude wise the Tropic of Cancer divides India into
temperate or subtropical North and tropical south.
The places situated north of Tropic of cancer experience extreme or
continental type of climate. The southern Peninsula, enclosed on three sides
by the Arabian sea, Indian Ocean and Bay of Bengal experience moderate
climate with coastal regions experiencing equable climate.
ii) Influence of the Himalayas-
a) The great Himalayan range obstructs the bitter cold winds from Siberia
from entering the Indian subcontinent.
b) The Himalayan range intercepts the rain- bearing south West monsoon
winds, forcing them to shed their moisture, in the North East and Indo
Gangetic plain.
iii) Altitude- Temperature decreases with increasing altitude at the rate of 1°C
for every 166 m. Places situated at the higher altitude are cooler as compared
to places in the plains.

iv) Distance from the sea- The places situated in the interior have extreme
continental type of climate, whereas places situated near the sea have equable
climate due to effect of land and sea breeze.
v) Western Disturbances and Tropical cyclones- During winter, there is an
inflow of low pressure depressions called Western Disturbances in North-west
India. These Westerly depressions originate in Mediterranean sea and enter
India after crossing Iraq, Afganistan and Pakistan.

During summer, the whole of the East coast of India comes under the
influence of Tropical depressions at the head of the Bay of Bengal, which cause
heavy loss of life and property.
vi) Jet streams_- The upper air currents in the upper layer of the atmosphere
could determine the onset and departure of the monsoon.
THE FOUR SEASONS-
On the basis of monsoon variations, the year may be divided into four main
seasons. I) The Hot dry season ( March- May)
ii) The rainy season or the season of south- West monsoon (June-
September)
iii) The season of the retreating monsoon( October- November)
iv) The cold season or the season of the North- east monsoon(December-
February).
The hot dry season-(Summer season)-
During summer solstice, the sun shines directly overhead Tropic of Cancer.
There is a steady increase in temperature from south to north, experience
intense heat over the landmasses. Hence low pressure conditions develop on
the mainland of India while High Pressure conditions prevail over the
surrounding seas. The south east trade winds in Southern India are attracted
towards the mainland of India.

Storms during hot weather season-

a) Kalbaishakhi- In West Bengal, it is called calamity of the month of Baisakh.
These are accompanied by thunder storms and bring heavy rain which is
good for tea crop in Assam and jute and rice in West Bengal.
b) Loo- These are hot dry, dusty winds common in Bihar, Uttar Pradesh,
Punjab and Haryana. The heat is unbearable and usually brings drought
conditions.
c) Mango shower- These occur in the South India during April/ May, bring
little rain which is important for mango, tea, coffee plants.
Characteristics of Hot season-
1. This season is marked by dry weather and excessive heat.
2. The sun directly falls on the Tropic of Cancer.
3. The range of temperature is very high in the interior, and low in the
coastal areas.
4. Thunderstorms accompanied by dusty winds are common, no rain.
THE RAINY SEASON OR THE SEASON OF THE SOUTH- WEST
MONSOON ( June to September)-

The word monsoon is derived from the Arabic word ‘Mausim’ which
means season. Monsoon is a periodic seasonal wind in which there is
a complete reversal of wind direction every six months. Monsoons
are basically land and sea breeze on a large scale.
By the end of May, the differential heating of the land and sea brings
about a low pressure trough on the northern part of India and a high
pressure builds up above the surrounding seas.
The South- East trade winds in the southern ocean, after crossing the
equator, are deflected towards the Indian subcontinent as South
West monsoon winds.
While reaching the southernmost tip of India, it gets divided into two
branches.
a) Arabian sea branch-
It strikes the western coast of India in Kerala on 1st June and gives
very heavy rainfall along the windward side of Western Ghats.
This rain is Orographic.
Deccan plateau lying on the leeward side of the Western Ghats

receives very little rain.

 This branch gives very little rain in Rajasthan due to Aravalli
Range's location parallel to the direction of the monsoon winds
and do not offer any obstruction. Moreover, the hills are also
very low.
b) The Bay Of Bengal branch-
This branch advances north- eastwards after picking up moisture from Bay of
Bengal and causes heavy rain near Khasi, Garo, jaintia hills.

Mawsynram near Cherrapunji of Meghalaya has a funnel shaped valley which

traps the winds to shed moisture and receives heaviest rainfall in the world.
Shilong on the other hand, lying in the rain shadow of Khasi hills gets little rain.
The remaining portion of the Bay of Bengal branch is deflected towards west
along the Himalayas, However, the rainfall goes on decreasing as it proceeds
through the Ganga valley and gives rainfall to West Bengal, Indo-Gangetic Plain,
Uttar Pradesh.
The Retreating South-west Monsoon ( October- November)
By 1st September, with the apparent movement of the sun towards south the low
pressure in India starts weakening, and is no longer able to attract the monsoon
winds towards land.
During Autumn Equinox when the sun shines directly over equator, the south-
West monsoon begins to withdraw from the mainland of India.
By the end of September, the south-west monsoon withdraws from Punjab and
Uttar Pradesh by October from Central India and finally by the end of November
from South India.
Characteristics features of the Retreating monsoon-

a) It is a transition period between the hot rainy season and cold dry season in
the month of October and November.
b) This period is marked by the occurrence of tropical depression, generally
originating over the Bay of Bengal and rarely in the Arabian Sea.
c) The part of winter rainfall in Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh is caused by
Retreating monsoons.
d) The withdrawal of monsoon leads to clear cloudess sky, high temperatures
and high humidity during the month of October. This sultry and oppressive
weather is often referred to as 'October heat'.
The cold season or the season of the North- East monsoon ( December-
March)
The cold weather season commences at the end of November and
continues till March. Clear sky, pleasant weather, low temperature and
humidity, high range of temperature and slow Northern winds are the chief
characteristics of this season.
During this time, the apparent movement of the sun is towards the
southern hemisphere, therefore Northern part of India becomes very cold,
Himalayas experience heavy snowfall which results in cold wave in northern
India.
As a result, high pressure builds up on the land and low pressure centred on
the water bodies surrounding the Peninsula. As such, off-shore winds start
blowing towards low pressure areas centred in the Bay of Bengal. They are
forced to blow via Indo-Gangetic plain towards the Bay of Bengal.
Rainfall during the cold season-
 Coromandel Coast in Tamil Nadu- These winds do not bring brain to Ganga
valley but as they proceed after crossing the Bay of Bengal they collect
enough moisture and as they strike the Coromandel Coast on eastern India,
Tamil Nadu and southern tip of Andhra Pradesh get heavy rainfall,
accompanied by stormy winds.
Winter rainfall in the North-West- In the north-
In the north, the spell of fine weather is often broken by light rainfall which
occur due to westerly depression and Temperate cyclone originating in the
Mediterranean sea. This rainfall is cyclonic rain and is beneficial to crops,
especially wheat and barley.
Characteristics features of South- West monsoon-
a) The distribution of rainfall is not uniform. Even the amount of rainfall varies
from region to region.
b) Erratic nature of South- west monsoon causes floods in some areas and the
other parts may have severe drought conditions.
c) The most important feature of Indian monsoon is it’s orographic nature,
the effects caused due to the Himalayas and the Western Ghats on the
amount.
d) India has an agricultural economy, and a major part of its economy
depends on the intensity of monsoon.